Why do players do this besides to stare at me for information HU?
Or even stranger when the pot has multiple callers.

I find this a strange play.
These are the things that come to mind when players do this.
A.) You are telling player HU that you have a read.
B.) You are trying to bully
C.) You like to be flashy

Sometimes someone wants you to know they're either check-calling or check-raising. Usually they are hoping this info will cause you to check it down. Probably misused in the same way as the "look I'm holding out chips becase I'm going to call if you bet" tell.

Most of the time it's because they want to read your soul, while really doing nothing more then making sure you don't have skin cancer Just give them a big smile, or cross your eyes, or just hold your head down in shame. Give them a show

stealing position in a weird retarted fashion?

People honestly get weirded out when you do this to them, they give you a wtf? look, kinda funny when ur drunk and sitting with 7bi's at 1/2 tho

I played for years with a guy in mid limit holdem who checked blind every flop when first to act. So for me it doesn't seem strange to occasionally see it in no limit.

Checking blind on the river was very common in 7 card stud for about 30 years before holdem came along. I still do it in the right spots just like I reach for one shoe after putting on the other.

Massive tell for a weak/drawing type hand. They want you to worry about getting chek raised as that they might have hit and check behind them.

Just tonight: 3/6 game
after the flop and betting round is done...
UTG says: "Check dark"
I rap the table three times and start to burn when UTG says:
"Dealer...?"
i pause
"Yes?"
"I checked Dark"...
I KNOW whats coming next but i bite, "yes you did"
"you didn't say anything..."
"That is correct"
"Why not?"
"What should i say?"( now I'm baiting the guy a bit)
"That i checked dark"

So now i go into the explanation:
"Sir, checking Dark is not a recognized action in the sense that the dealer has a responsiblity to announce it. The REASON being is that "checking dark" is usually used as a tool to attempt to gain a positional advantage over the other players, SO if i DO announce that you checked dark, well then i am HELPING you gain an advantage over other players in the game. I must remain impartial and therefore cannot announce a "dark check"

He just started at me.

I don't think he was even aware of WHY he was checking dark

I played with the governor of New York and he always does this...

what kind of sunglasses does patterson wear when he is playing i can see him in some old school ray charles ray bans

Checking dark is just stupid. I have had players claim they steal position this way.

Excuse me.... you are still acting first ...


often times I have heard people say that the straddle is the stupidest play in poker.

I disagree. When you straddle you act blind but you get the opportunity to raise again ion exchange for your blind action.

When you check dark you act blind and get nothing in return...


therefore checking dark is inherently a worse play than straddling.

Retarted? Don't you mean ******ed? hahahaha

It's funny when people say someone is ******ed, but they can't even spell ******ed.

When people check to me blind, I immediately bet blind so not only is the decision back on them, they feel ******ed for doing that. After the first few times most people realize I'm going to do it everytime and they only do it when they have a big pair so I know exactly where I'm at :P

See DN v PH on High stakes poker for a hilarious hand like this.

seems like people mostly check dark when they have aj+ and are worried about the other person having a decent perr, or if they have a low-middle perr and are worried about overcards flopping.

wats funny is ppl who feel the need to point out spelling errors while making sure they have all their own spelling and punctuation perfect in their post so no one can make fun of their own post

i can just see you sitting there making sure all your commas and hyphens are all accounted for.. ^^

There used to be an old lady at my local room who says this all the time on the bb.

She thinks it means to check without looking at your cards.

It's usually not a big deal. A lot of good players never or virtually never donk bet. Checking dark just announces that. Very small difference between that and just insta checking as soon as the cards come out.

I'm guilty of checking dark from time to time. It does, in a small way, give me "position" on a hand while out of position, but it's mostly for the other reasons listed in this thread: I've got a marginal hand or I'm on a draw that I plan on folding or check-raising. Like anything else, it's one tool you can use if you think it's practical to do so. ...perhaps even only if you want to change your image at the table.

people check blind with hands when they have no intention of betting regardless of how they hit their hand.

like if they're in the bb with 36o and if they flop a straight in a 5 way pot they'll always check so they may as well check in the dark

winner, this is exactly right.

I've seen it done w/ big pairs to induce c-bets that can be check raised while giving the little extra feel that they're making a move and hoping their check raise gets respected less. I think it's more of a "never donk betting this spot anyway" thing at least at higher stakes than a "i have a specific type of hand" thing. In general anyway.

I check dark in multi way pots pretty much anytime no matter what I had if I wasn't the pre-flop raiser. A lot of the times heads up against an aggressive player. It is stronger than just checking the flop. It makes check-calling less suspicious I think.

Also, I am really surprised so much hate on this play. Pretty much everyone on here hates the donk bet so they would advocate checking to the raiser pretty much no matter what flop so why would you hate a play that you still check but give less information to your opponent especially if it comes in a highly textured board.

And most players know this, so if you check dark, most people put you on a weak or draw type hand. Which is why the only time I see it work is when the checker has a low pocket pair that they're set-mining or fold with. If they hit, they were checking anyway, and the check-raise illicits a WTF from the other guy - and often times the other guy thinks he's just being bullied, when in fact he's up against a set and he's about to go broke. And if they don't hit, they fold to a bet and move on.

That's the only time I've ever seen the check dark work, and the only situation I would consider it.

I know a small pair is a draw hand in its own sense, but when I say weak/draw hand, I'm talking like 68s or A5s, not a low pocket pair - the hands that will often flop draws but rarely flop a made hand, as opposed to a small pair, which is either hitting the set or getting the heck out of the way.